Rand Paul suddenly supports reaching out to minorities

What’s this? Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, the son of former Congressional racist Ron Paul, is saying Republicans need to reach out to minorities if it wants to survive?

That seems to be the message the younger Paul is spouting as he explores his ambition to be what his father could never achieve — President of the Untied States.

In Iowa, where Paul is already running for the 2016 GOP Presidential nomination, the Senator says the party of the elephant needs to broaden its appeal to blacks and Latinos.

Said Paul:

As a party we need to grow bigger and…attract the Latino vote. This is a very practical thing and I’m not ashamed to admit it. We need to attract the Latino vote, we need to attract the African-American vote. It is somewhat of a gateway issue and we have to change the way we are talking about it and who we are if we are going to attract the Latino vote.

Strange words from a Senator who also once said a restaurant owner in America should be allowed to refuse service to minorities simply because that is “what freedom in America is all about.”

Also strange words from the man whose father became a millionaire by publishing a string a racist newsletters after his first round of terms in Congress left him in debt.

Rand Paul’s sudden moderation may not sit well with the racism and intolerance that has defined those who flocked to former Texas Congressman Ron Paul in his three failed runs as President.

Those close to the elder Paul, however, admitted to Capitol Hill Blue that the unsuccessful campaigns for President had little to do with actually winning. They allowed the elder Paul to raise millions that were not spent on the campaign but were diverted after the elections to foundations that primary employ the Paul family and fatten their own bank accounts.

The elder Paul later denied having anything to do with the racist content of the newsletter but statements by his associates say otherwise.

“It was his newsletter, and it was under his name, so he always got to see the final product,” said former Paul secretary Ranae Hathway. “He would proof it.”

Other former employees said Paul admitted he wanted to make the newsletters “more provocative” to increase sales. Paul, they said, came up with the statements that the Rev. Martin Luther King “seduced underage boys and girls” and called New York City “Zooville.” He also wrote that the 1002 Los Angeles riots ended “when it was time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.”

The success of the newsletters allowed Paul to go from a debt of $765,000 in 1995 to a net worth of $5.2 million by 2010.

Ed Crane, President of the Cato Institute, said Paul bragged about using a mailing list from the racist and anti-Semitic Spotlight newspaper because it produced readers who also contributed heavily to his efforts.

“People who have extreme views were more likely than others to respond,” Crane said Paul stated.

Rittberg says son Rand learned from his father and will put the same practices to use in his political career. If Paul is now appearing to support minorities and other more moderate causes, Rittberg says, then one can be sure that he sees both a political and profit motive in the move.

Others agree.

“Rand Paul is even more of an opportunist than his father,” says one former campaign who says he quit in disgust when he realized the Kentucky Senator is “a phony who lacks the courage of his convictions.”